History doesn't always repeat itself

...but it usually rhymes.

There's a tendency to confuse the next big thing with the one, it, the last big thing, the end of the line.

Communism, Populism, McCarthyism, Progressivism, Libertarianism...

Impressionism, Cubism, Modernism, Pop, Hyperrealism...

Sufiism, Norse Gods, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Christian Science...

Email, the web, web 2.0, mobile...

Newton, Einstein, string theory...

Newspaper, Radio, TV, the Internet...

Most of the time, we're dealing with a moment, a step in a trend. We fail when we fall in love and believe there is no next step.